What is the cause of the TWA 800 disaster?
Answer An explosion of the center wing fuel tank (CWT), resulting from ignition of the flammable fuel/air mixture in the tank. The source of ignition energy for the explosion could not be determined with certainty, but, of the sources evaluated by the investigation, the most likely was a short circuit outside of the CWT that allowed excessive voltage to enter it through electrical wiring associated with the fuel quantity indication system. Contributing factors to the accident were the design and certification concept that fuel tank. Explosions could be prevented solely by precluding all ignition sources from the design and certification of the Boeing 747, which was certified with heat sources located beneath the CWT, and with no means to reduce the heat transferred into the CWT or to render the fuel vapor in the tank nonflammable. That’s the officially reported cause. However, many aircraft in the area at the time of the explosion reported seeing somthing like a “Flare” originating fro
